The No Nonsense Phonics Skills Programme

The No Nonsense Phonics Skills programme provides a content-rich body of work and highly practical guidance based on
international summaries of research on reading. These include the instructional features described as the Five Pillars of Literacy:
1) phonemic awareness (awareness of the smallest sounds in speech), 2) phonics (teach the alphabetic code and phonics skills
explicitly and systematically), 3) vocabulary enrichment (teach new words explicitly), 4) fluency (requires ample repetition and
repeat reading), 5) language comprehension (of spoken language and reading comprehension of how to interpret literature).

In addition, the Simple View of Reading model is important as it illustrates the relationship between the technical code knowledge
and skills of word decoding and word recognition with the meaning-making of language comprehension. The diagram also
enables teachers to consider learners’ broad reading profiles.

Language
comprehension
The Simple View of Reading

→
(Original concept: Gough and Tunmer 1986) GOOD

Poor word decoding Good word decoding

Good comprehension Good comprehension
There are two main processes for
being a ‘reader’ in the full sense: Word Word
decoding/recognition → POOR GOOD → decoding/recognition
of PRINT of PRINT
1. Word decoding and word recognition:
What ARE the words?
Poor word decoding Good word decoding
2. Language comprehension: Poor comprehension Poor comprehension
What do the words MEAN? POOR

→
Language
comprehension

The Alphabet and the Alphabetic Code: The spelling system of the English language has the most complex Alphabetic Code in Raintree is an imprint of Capstone Global Library Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales having its
the world. Teachers should introduce systematically the 44+ phonemes (smallest sounds) identifiable in speech and the large number registered office at 7 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6LB
of graphemes (letters and letter groups) that are code for the sounds. Teachers should also introduce the 26 capital letters and 26 Registered company number: 6695582
lower case letters, and alphabetical order, of the Alphabet. To help distinguish between the alphabet and the alphabetic code, the
www.raintree.co.uk
information and purpose of each concept is most clearly provided via the visual aids of Alphabet Posters (which can also show letter myorders@raintree.co.uk
formation) and Alphabetic Code Charts which list the phonemes and many spelling alternatives.
Text © Phonics International Limited 2017
Two-pronged systematic and incidental phonics teaching and learning: Two-pronged phonics provision is a much more The moral rights of the proprietor have been asserted.
flexible approach than systematic phonics alone, and enables an earlier and greater understanding of English spelling for reading
and writing – therefore increasing the likelihood of self-teaching and engagement, and phonics application in the wider curriculum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means (including
The two-pronged approach soon leads to flexible teachers and learners who understand the need to try pronunciation alternatives to photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some
achieve the target words when decoding new printed words, and who understand about the notion of multiple spelling alternatives other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except in accordance with the
for most sounds, and the need to be very attentive to which words are spelt with which spelling alternatives. This understanding is provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright
supported by the use of Alphabetic Code Charts. ‘Spelling word bank’ work is also embodied in this approach. Within the nine No Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS (www.cla.co.uk). Applications for the copyright
Nonsense Phonics Skills books, the alphabetic code is built up in ‘chunks’, with accompanying guidance for the teacher. owner’s written permission should be addressed to the publisher.

Devised and written by Debbie Hepplewhite of Phonics International Limited

Edited by Dan Nunn and Clare Lewis
Cover artwork by Dan Rebegea
New letter/s-sound correspondences
Josh Charlotte cake Interior artwork by Arun B. Inamdar
in wider reading experiences can be Box design by Richard Parker
explained with reference to ‘the code’ Production by Helen McCreath
like this: Originated by Capstone Global Library Ltd
“In your names, these letters “In this word, these letters Printed in China
are code for the /sh/ sound.” are code for the /ai/ sound.”
ISBN 978 1 4747 3864 4
No Nonsense Phonics Skills Kit ISBN 978 1 4747 3966 5
20 19 18 17 16
The phonics exercise book: Each learner requires a personal lined exercise book for class, group or individual activities to use 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
alongside the nine No Nonsense Phonics Skills books. Where individual learners struggle to remember specific letter/s-sound
correspondences, or letter formation, this information should be noted immediately by the teacher in the exercise book as a form of British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
monitoring and to ensure extra personalised practice as required. The exercise books are also required for the spelling routine which A full catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
is the last activity of the Multi-skills Activities pages. Use the exercise books routinely for any copy-writing of the Mini Stories and the
more challenging ‘self-dictation’ (highly recommended) whereby learners read, reread, and then write each sentence of a story held Acknowledgements
in memory, in their best handwriting. Eventually, learners can write their own ideas for ‘what happens next’ in the Mini Stories, or Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders of material reproduced in this book. Any omissions will be
write their own thoughts in response to the comprehension questions. Quick sketches are drawn in the books to illustrate the Mini rectified in subsequent printings if notice is given to the publisher.
Stories to deepen and evidence the learners’ language comprehension.

Teacher_Book_2_Cover.indd 4-6 23/06/2016 14:51:56

 Teaching and Learning Cycle
for Books 1–9
Books 1–8: Follow the order of activities
as provided in each book.
Book 9: The Multi-skills Activities
pages are replaced with Spelling
Word Bank activities.
At first, individual pupil practice:
‘apply and extend’ with Mini Story page
• Say the sounds and highlighted words at top
• Underline focus grapheme and note total
• Read story independently, circle unknown
words
Followed by, teacher with pupils:
• Re-read story together, discuss in full
• Instruct pupils in follow-up activities:
e.g. copywrite, self-dictation, write ‘what
happens next’, illustrate – option to label
(in pupils’ exercise books as necessary)
• Complete Spelling Word Banks and other
activities as presented in the nine books

Session Two
Individual pupil revision:
• at code level with Say the Sounds page
• at word level with cumulative word bank
from a previous Multi-skills Activities page
• and/or at text level with previous Mini Story
Teacher_Book_2_Inner.indd 1
Session One

Teacher-led, whole class interactive:
‘revisit and review’
with Frieze Cards on screen
or hard copy cards
 Individual pupil revision:
• at code level with a Say the Sounds page
• at word level with cumulative word bank
from a previous Multi-skills Activities page
• and/or at text level with previous Mini Story
Wall Display

• Giant Alphabetic Code Chart
• Giant Alphabet Poster
• Frieze Cards
• Say the Sounds Posters
• Word Posters Teacher-led introduction of the new or focus
letter/s-sound correspondence:
Use Frieze Cards on screen or hard copy cards
Tabletop Support • Model the ‘decoding’ reading routine
• Model the ‘encoding’ spelling routine
• Mini Alphabetic Code Chart
(with handwriting)
• Mini Alphabet Poster
• Clarify the picture-words for the
‘Phonemic awareness puzzle’ of
new Multi-skills Activities page
•
Individual pupil practice at code and word level:
Complete new Multi-skills Activities page (independently at first)


Teacher together with pupils:
• Repeat all words in word bank: 1) sound and blend 2) say whole words
• Select words from bank to teach new vocabulary – note homophones
Teacher-led:
• Teacher says aloud some words from word bank for the spelling routine.
Pupils write spellings in exercise books (check all spellings at the time)
21/06/2016 16:53:53
 g
Guidance for the Phonics Routines
Learn the code: Use the terminology “is code for” in preference to saying that letters “make Multi-skills Activities
sounds” or “say sounds” (they don’t). Learners may know the focus letter/s-sound correspondence
already but will still benefit from all the phonics skills practice and vocabulary enrichment.
Refer to the focus grapheme
Link letter formation with sounds: Explain that capital letters on the Alphabetic Code Chart.
are code for the same sounds as their lower case (equivalent) letters
and they are used for special reasons such as the first letter of names
and beginning sentences. Constantly reinforce the tripod pencil grip
Learn the code: This letter is code for the sound /g/ as in girl.
saying, “Let me help you...”. Encourage slow, very careful handwriting.
Phonemic awareness puzzle: Model how to say each picture-word very slowly and naturally to
identify the focus sound at the beginning, within, or at the end of the word. The ‘odd one out’ is the
1
G Check carefully for correct
picture-word that does not include the focus sound. Show learners how to put a cross next to it.

g
letter formation and
2
Decoding: The reading routine is print-to-sound. Model how to point under each grapheme as you provide extra practice, as
say each sound then run your finger under the word, from left to right, as you say the word. required, in the learners’

g
Marking: Engage pupils with a sense of their own learning. They sound out and tick in pencil the personal exercise books.
graphemes (letters and letter groups) they think they know. They also tick after sounding out and
blending the whole printed words. They circle any decoded words where the meaning is not known.
Link letter formation with sounds: Finger trace the letter shapes from the dots, then write the
Teachers tick in pen the graphemes and printed words they hear sounded out correctly. Do not

x
Provide
capital and lower case letters, while saying the sound /g/.
mark incorrect responses with a cross – simply leave blank any graphemes or words not known. the spoken
More activities: 1) Match capital and lower case graphemes. 2) Pupils decode all the words them- words for
selves, then re-read with the teacher, then discuss the meanings together. Use the exercise books as the pictures.
necessary. When English is a new language, select only a few words for teaching vocabulary. Phonemic awareness puzzle: Where can you hear the sound //g/ in these words? pegs glasses hen flag

Oral segmenting: This is a sub-skill of spelling. How to tally: Say each picture-word very slowly
and naturally to identify all the sounds from beginning to end of the word. Then say each sound a✓✓ k ✓✓ m ✓✓ p ✓✓ d✓✓✓✓ s ✓ e ✓ r ✓ t ✓ i ✓ g ✓
separately and tally the sounds on thumb and fingers of the left hand, palm facing. Count the ✓ ✓
sounds. Note: Identify how many sounds all through the word, NOT how many letters. In Book 1,
ONLY write the number of sound dashes. Do not attempt to spell the picture-words. D I ✓ G ✓ E✓ T ✓ C R I ✓ S✓ P✓
Encoding: The full spelling routine is sound-to-print.
Complete this skills activity last and in the exercise books. “/s/ /n/ /a/ /k/” gap ✓ tag ✓ dig ✓ drag ✓ get✓
✓ ✓
1. Model how to orally segment the whole spoken
word and tally the identified sounds to thumb and
p e g g a s g r i p ra g ma g n e t
✓ ✓ ✓

2.
fingers of the left hand, palm facing.
Write a sound dash for every sound identified
____ Decoding: Point under the letters and letter groups from left to right and say the sounds. Sound out
and blend to read the words. Encoding
Encoding: Use some of these words for the spelling routine.

(dashes long enough for 2 letters). Books 2–8: The spellings in the section below include
3. Use the sound dashes as writing lines to write the
_
s _
n _ _
a ck ✓ letter/s-sound correspondences previously introduced.
a—n—
t n —
e —
t
correct graphemes (letters and letter groups)
correctly formed and positioned on the dashes. — —
4. Next, sound out and blend to check the word.
Immediately check and tick, or correct if required. →
5. Re-write the whole word on a line below whilst Say each sound then run your finger under Oral segmenting with spelling: Say the words, identify
from left to right as you say the word. and tally the sounds, write a sound dash for each sound.
saying or thinking the sounds /s/ /n/ /a/ /k/. Write the graphemes on the dashes.
Note: This full spelling routine starts from introducing
letter ‘t’ on page 3 of Book 1.
snack See the letters, say the sounds: m d g
6

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 Suggested Comprehension Questions for Mini Stories
Page T it le /Q u e s t io n s

3 The Map
Who has a map?
What happens to the map?
What do you think Menna could use to mend the map?

5 The Red Pen

Who sent a pen to Dan?
What colour is the tip of the pen?
Why do you think Dan’s hand gets into a red mess?

7 The Cat and the Mat

Why does Greg dig a pit?
Why do you think Greg gets a sack?
Why do you think the mat attracts Pip?

9 The Pin Lid

What makes Dad mad and hop on the spot?
What does Dad discover about the pin tin?
Where does Sam keep his pet cricket?

11 Dad’s Hut
Where does Sam hide his pet cricket at first?
What animals run into Sam’s den and why do you think this is?
What does Sam do next. Why do you think he moves his cricket into his Dad’s hut?

13 The Slug
What creature pecks at a log?
Where does the slug travel?
What might the hen be thinking about the slug and why?

15 Mum
Is Nanna sick?
What does Dad ask Nanna to get?
Who needs the glass of milk, and why?

17 That Fat Rat!

What is the rat called?
Why is Pip, the cat, fed up?
Do you think this is the first time that Fred has drunk Pip’s milk?

19
Flop, Plop!
The first elf is full of fun but what does the other elf do to give the impression that he is ‘full of
himself’? What does the second elf do that makes him feel a bit daft (silly)?
What do you think the first elf might do when the second elf falls off the log?

21 The Last Lesson

Who sent the class off?
Where did the class go?
What job do you think Miss Fusspot does? Give some reasons for your thoughts.

23 Ben’s Bag of Tricks

What does Ben grab?
Who dips his hand into the bag of tricks?
How do you think Ben might have played a trick on his dad?

25 Jenna and Justin

What does it mean to ‘jump on a jet’?
What does Justin have in his backpack?
Why do you think Jenna has just packed ‘a good book’ in her handbag?

27 Yasmin’s Pup
How is the pup behaving in his basket?
Who asks Yasmin whether the pup has been fed?
Why do you think the pup is making such a fuss in the basket?

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